SAN JOSE (California), Aug 25: Apple won more than $1 billion in a massive US court victory over Samsung on Friday, in one of the biggest patent cases in decades.

A jury in San Jose awarded $1.049 billion to the US technology giant, according to court documents. But analysts said the damages could be tripled because jurors found that Samsung “wilfully” infringed on patents.

The jury rejected the South Korean electronics firm’s counter-claims against Apple, which had claimed its iconic iPhone and iPad had been illegally copied.

From Seoul, Samsung reacted by saying it would contest the US verdict. “We will move immediately to file post-verdict motions to overturn this decision in this court and if we are not successful, we will appeal this decision to the Court of Appeals,” the company said in a statement.

The decision appeared to be an overwhelming victory for Apple, but it was not immediately clear whether it would halt sales of Samsung devices or affect newer models released since the case was filed.

“This is a huge, crushing win for Apple,” said Brian Love, a professor of patent law at Santa Clara University.

“All of its patents were held valid, and all but one were held to be infringed by most or all accused Samsung products. Even better for the company, five of the seven patents were held to be wilfully infringed by Samsung.”

Love said this meant that Judge Lucy Koh “now has the discretion to triple Apple’s damages award, which is already a monstrous and unprecedented” sum.

The case, which is almost certain to face appeal, could shake up the sizzling market for mobile devices in which Apple has been losing ground to rivals like Samsung that use the free Android system developed by Google.

The jury decided the case with over 700 separate claims in less than three days of deliberations.

The verdict affects patents on a range of Samsung products including some of its popular Galaxy smartphones and its Galaxy 10 tablet — devices alleged to have been copied from the iPhone and iPad.

But some devices are not affected, including the flagship Galaxy III S recently released, although they could be targeted in separate litigation.

Technology analyst Jeff Kagan said of the verdict: “This is a great day for Apple. And it will turn into a very expensive day for Samsung.”

Kagan said it was not immediately clear whether Samsung would be able to continue to use the technology and pay Apple for the right to do so, or if they must pull their devices and redesign them. In any case, the verdict in the case — one of several pending in global courts — is likely to have massive repercussions in the hottest part of the technology sector, smartphones and tablets.

Even a delay in sales could endanger Samsung’s position in the US market, where it is currently the top seller of smartphones.

A survey by research firm IDC showed Samsung shipped 50.2 million smartphones globally in the April-June period, while Apple sold 26 million iPhones. IDC said Samsung held 32.6 per cent of the market to 16.9 per cent for Apple.—AFP